Cedar Park City Council approves expanding scope of police department review to include patrols

Posted
Friday, January 12, 2018 6:53 pm

By NICK BROTHERS, HCN Managing Editor

The Cedar Park City Council approved expanding the scope of an ongoing independent review of its police department to include CPPD's patrol division at its Thursday meeting.

The expanded scope authorizes Chicago-based investigations firm Hillard-Heintze to review and assess the operations, policies and procedures of the patrol division in addition to the criminal investigations division.

“You may realize (patrols) is the largest and most visible function within the department, with interactions with criminal investigations as well as other divisions,” said City Manager Brenda Eivens. “It makes sense for us to go ahead and review its operations during this time.”

Eivens said she anticipates a complete report within 90 to 120 days.

Last August, Greg Kelley came before the Cedar Park City Council and asked that Cedar Park Police Chief Sean Mannix and Sgt. Chris Dailey be fired.

Kelley was convicted in 2014 of aggravated sexual assault of a child at a Cedar Park daycare and served his sentence for three years before being granted bond by Williamson County District Judge Donna King, who recommended Kelley be declared innocent for a botched investigation.

Kelley’s lawyer said Cedar Park police neglected to interview two other suspects in the case, including a man who lived at the home where the alleged abuse took place and was once arrested on charges of indecency with a child. Police have not released his name.

While the council said it didn’t have the authority to fire the two officers, they authorized the city manager to hire Hillard-Heintze to conduct an independent review of police policies and procedures related to criminal investigations.